Journalism giant Lord Deedes dies aged 94

London: Lord Deedes, regarded by many as a national institution, and the longest serving Daily Telegraph journalist, has died aged 94.

Deedes - who was a witness to many of the 20th century's most important events - served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and edited The Daily Telegraph for 12 years. He passed away at his home in Kent after a short illness.

He had written his last column for the paper, comparing the horrors of Darfur to Nazi Germany, as recently as August 3.

After editing the paper Bill Deedes, as he modestly preferred to be known, enjoyed an Indian summer as a reporter and journalist for another 20 years, long after most men would have retired.

Combining his experience and compassion - particularly for the plight of Africa in his latter years - and blessed with the power to write with clarity and simplicity, he simply never stopped, still travelling widely well into his nineties - though he could never write enough for Daily Telegraph readers.

Towering figure

Aidan Barclay, the chairman of the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), said last night: "Bill Deedes was a giant among men - a towering figure in journalism, an icon in British politics, and a humanitarian to his very core. He was part of the fabric of The Telegraph: in his passing, we have lost part of ourselves. We will not see his like again. Our thoughts are with his family, and his legion of friends."

Murdoch MacLennan, the chief executive of TMG, said: "The sun has set on a remarkable life, lived very much for the benefit of others. Bill Deedes's journalism enriched all those who read it; his selfless humanity touched us; his good humour and courage - even to the very end - inspired us. For all those in newspapers, it is difficult to imagine life without him."

Baroness Thatcher, who had known him for more than 50 years, said last night: "Bill was a dear friend who will be greatly missed. He had a uniquely distinguished career in politics and journalism. He managed to appeal to new generations just as effectively as he did to earlier ones. I am deeply sorry at his passing."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "Britain owes a huge debt of gratitude to the patriotism and public service given by Bill Deedes. He started writing as a professional journalist more than 76 years ago and few have served journalism and the British public for so long at such a high level of distinction, and with such a popular following. "While he was an MP and also a Cabinet minister he will be remembered most as an outstanding and long serving editor of The Daily Telegraph and then a much read columnist. You could agree or disagree with his views but like so many others I found his writing fair minded, informed, and enlightening. Such was his commitment to public service that at the age of 85 he became an ambassador for Unicef - a post he also held with great distinction."

Jeremy Deedes, his son and the former managing director of this newspaper, said: "The Daily Telegraph was his great love and his dearest wish was to die in harness, which happily is how it ended."

William Lewis, Editor of The Daily Telegraph said: "It was a great honour and privilege to have worked with Bill Deedes. He was a wonderful inspiration - both as an outstanding journalist and as a human being whose wealth of experience and charity work will be very sadly missed

Affection

"An entertaining and gentle figure apparently from another age - he boasted not long ago that he had met Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts - he was frequently lampooned, but always affectionately."

Most famously, Bill Deedes inspired one of Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated characters - the bumbling though resourceful William Boot - in his novel, Scoop. He leaves a son, Jeremy, former managing director of The Daily Telegraph, and three daughters Juliet, Jill and Lucy.

Inspiration for reporter in 'Scoop'

Veteran British journalist Bill Deedes was the inspiration for the naive young reporter in the novel Scoop.

Deedes, the only Briton to have been both a Cabinet minister and editor of a national newspaper, began his distinguished career in 1931 on the now defunct Morning Post.

He became best known as the inspiration for the character William Boot in Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel, which tells of a hapless rural reporter who is sent by mistake to cover a civil war in a fictional African state.